SEMO SOUTH'S REGIONAL HOPES END WITH IOWA'S RALLY IN 7TH

LINCOLN, Neb. -- SEMO South's Junior Babe Ruth Regional Tournament hopes were dashed Tuesday with a heart-breaking 5-4 loss to Iowa's state championship team.

The local baseball squad led 4-1 entering the seventh inning, but Iowa scored four runs in the final inning with two outs to take a 5-4 lead. A bases-loaded hit off starter Zac Horman provided the winning run for Iowa.

"Although they beat us, I thought we were the second-best team there," said SEMO South coach Russell Burger. "We were better than third place."

Despite the devastating top-half of the inning, SEMO South mounted one last rally in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs, J.T. Ramsey walked, Trey Graviett singled and Sam Burnett walked to load the bases. But with the bases loaded, SEMO South's season ended with a flyout

"It was tense all the way," Burger said. "We could have folded the tent after that last inning, but the kids battled back and hit the ball at the end. We stayed in there and played hard baseball."

Two runs in the third inning and single tallies in the fourth and fifth staked SEMO South to a 4-1 lead. In the third inning, Ryne Wood, Horman and Thomason strung together hits to provide the local squad's first two runs. Wood finished with two singles.

Graviett, who went 3-for-4 in the contest, doubled in the fourth inning and eventually scored on a wild pitch. SEMO South's final run came in the fifth when Thomason walked and scored later in the inning on a Ramsey sacrifice fly.

The victory advanced Iowa into the championship game where they fell to Shoreview, Minn. 17-6 in five innings. Minnesota advances to the Junior Babe Ruth World Series held in Florida.